Ford, the UK’s most popular brand of automobile, has become the latest road vehicles manufacturer to announce a firm timeline for its transition away from internal combustion engine models to all-electric alternatives. At least in Europe, the U.S. manufacturer will be selling only electric cars by 2030.
The announcement, which entails a firmer commitment to the less concrete pledge from European rivals to achieve net-zero emissions status by 2030, has been recognised as a statement of intent by Ford.
One of Detroit’s ‘Big 3’ automotive manufacturers alongside General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, Ford has long held been one of the UK’s most popular brand of car, topping the charts for new vehicles sold and numbers driven most years. However, the company hasn’t manufactured a car in the UK for over 20 years.
The company’s Cologne plant in Germany will be the central location for the manufacture of electric cars for the European market. It will be transformed over the next eight years through a $1 billion investment programme that will set it up for EV production lines. By 2026 Ford says all new cars sold in Europe will be at least hybrid models, with petrol-engines backing up battery-power. By 2030 internal combustion engines will have been phased out entirely.
Ford still operates its famous Dagenham plant in east London but it is now only used to manufacture Ford Transit vans – the most bought new vehicle in the UK. The company expects the transition to all-electric vans to be slower than that of cars, meaning the Dagenham facility’s future appears secure for at least another several years. A zero-emissions E-Transit model will be launched next year and commercial vehicles will generally also transition to all-electric. However, Ford believes that 2030 will be too early for that transition to be complete, expecting just two thirds of its commercial vehicle models to be all-electric by the turn of the decade.
The Dagenham plant will hope to continue to be an important manufacturing centre for Ford’s commercial vehicles, even after the transition to all-electric is also completed the range. Ford’s research and technical facility near Basildon in Essex is also seen as continuing to be key to future development of the company’s van models, as is the van gear box plant in Halewood, Merseyside.
Ford recently launched its first electric car on the UK market. The £40,000 Mustang Mach-E is, however, imported from Mexico with no current European manufacturing facility. Commenting on Ford’s announcement GlobalData analyst David Leggett said:
“Ford is the latest carmaker to bite the electric bullet, eager to ratchet up electrification strategies in the face of tighter regulatory pressures. There really is no alternative.”